


Halloween Vigil

by Corvidology



Category: The Alienist (TV)
Genre: Assigned writer, Cold Weather, Halloween, Holding Hands, Late Night Confessions, Late Night Conversations, M/M, Pining, Trick or Treat 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2018-11-08
Packaged: 2019-08-06 07:22:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16383797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corvidology/pseuds/Corvidology
Summary: It had been a day in which he’d tacitly agreed to act as if he’d been duped by one friend and then gone on to be genuinely tricked by another one and yet he’d been delighted by them both.





	Halloween Vigil

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mimm](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mimm/gifts).



It had been a day in which he’d tacitly agreed to act as if he’d been duped by one friend and then gone on to be genuinely tricked by another one and yet he’d been delighted by them both. He’d decided to end a splendid day in Laszlo’s company, even though that might well be the end of it.

 

He was surprised to find the man in question sitting on the front steps of his house, wearing his coat, hat and gloves.

“Your tiny hand must be frozen.” He couldn’t help but smile. A little teasing seemed only fair, Laszlo having recently dragged him to La Bohème, one of the new operas.

“And now you finally find a use for opera.”

He waited, but for once Laszlo seemed disinclined to say anything more.

“What on earth are you doing out here, Laszlo? It’s bitterly cold.”

Laszlo’s head dropped. “...Mary always loved to go for a walk on Halloween. I think she liked to see the children running wild and free in a way she never got to experience herself.”

He wished so badly that he was good with words. A better friend, a better man, would know exactly the right thing to say to offer comfort. “Would you like to walk with me?”

Laszlo shook his head.

“Then I’ll sit vigil with you.” He drew his completely inadequate evening coat tightly around himself and sat down next to Laszlo, the cold from the steps immediately seeping up into his bones. He should distract Laszlo from his melancholy but wasn’t sure if he should encourage Laszlo to speak further of Mary or to speak of other matters—

“How is Miss Howard?”

Laszlo saved him by picking the topic and to speak of Sara was never a hardship. “As it happens, I was her ‘plus one’ earlier this evening.”

“What was the occasion?”

“A charity gala to raise money for a home for fallen women. Sara told me I no doubt owed several back payments.”

Laszlo didn’t laugh enough. Its very rarity never failed to warm John through and through. 

“Your Sara is a very remarkable woman and I am certain she will always keep you on your toes.”

“Not mine, alas, but otherwise you are correct.”

“Patience, John. You have so little awareness of how equally remarkable you are and once she has achieved her ambitions she might still consider the offer of your hand.”

Rare praise from Laszlo warmed him further. “Thank you for that, Laszlo, but I feel she is meant for better things.”

“I think Joseph might disagree with you.”

Laszlo was always so well informed he sometimes thought he might have his own Irregulars as in the Arthur Conan Doyle stories. “I wanted to take Joseph as my ward and send him to a decent school but he would have none of it. I feared that if I pressed the matter more he would disappear into the streets and I’d never find him again.”

“Unfortunately, Joseph has already survived too much and seen too much of the world at its worst not to consider himself an adult more than capable of making his own decisions. The streets have been his teacher.”

“You’re right of course.” Always maddeningly right and yet unable to ever see what was right in front of him. “I did manage to get him to agree to undertake an apprenticeship so I purchased one for him with a tailor. It turns out that Mr. Joseph has always had a great love of good clothes.”

“You have much in common, John.” Laszlo was softly smiling at him and all was well with the world. “I understand you also secured Joseph respectable lodgings.”

“Which he has chosen to share with some of the other boys to get them off the street. We both pretend I am unaware of it while I pay extra money to the landlord to cover their rent.”

“You are a good man, John.”

“It’s just money, Laszlo. You’re the one who is really making the difference in the life of children.”

“Thank you. Your good opinion means a lot to me.”

The case they had lived through together and its related tragedies had removed the sting from Laszlo’s tail although he felt it best not to think to dwell too long on Laszlo’s haunches. His love for Laszlo had endured Laszlo’s barbed words and careless cruelty but never been encouraged by them. Now those impediments had been removed. It was just his bad luck to be in love with two people at once, for each to be equally unattainable and probably better suited. At least for the short blissful period before one of them was compelled to kill the other.

"To be truthful, I give my time to others but very little of myself." Laszlo stared down. "I am not sure I know how to do that which comes so easily to you, to be able to freely express my most intimate feelings, but I must tell you at least that they are all for you."

John closed his gloved fingers tightly over Laszlo's, stroking his thumb across the back of his hand.

”I am surprised at you, John. I am certain you were raised better.”

He had acted on impulse but could not regret it.

“A gentleman should never offer his gloved hand to another gentleman.” 

As Laszlo slipped his glove off, John hurried to follow suit. 

"You are truly remarkable, John, and I unworthy, yet please consider the offer of my hand."

Both now bare handed, Laszlo turned his own upwards to interlock their fingers. They sat there, hand in hand, on the freezing cold steps, Laszlo dropping his head onto his shoulder. 

They sat in companiable silence until John began to fear permanent damage in areas he hoped to soon be using in more pleasurable ways. “I’m freezing my ass off.” He stood up, pulling Laszlo up with him. 

“We cannot have that.” Laszlo kissed him quickly on the cheek, conscious of where they were. “Let us go inside and see how well the rest of us fits together.” 

It was indeed a very splendid day.

.


End file.
